Ancient DNA shows many medieval ‘family’ graves in Sweden were social group burials

# What the study did

# Main finding: shared graves were often not biological families Genetic relationships among people placed in the same grave were rarer than archaeologists expected. Where archaeologists had assumed adults and children in a shared burial were parents and children or otherwise close kin, the DNA showed that was frequently not the case. Even in cemeteries with many biological family links across the broader population, people placed together in individual graves were usually not close blood relatives.

This implies burial decisions followed rules beyond immediate biological kinship. The authors point to social, religious, and community factors as plausible reasons for grouping people in certain graves.

# Children followed adult gender burial customs

# A reconstructed family and a possible pilgrim

# What the DNA approach adds

# Practical implications for archaeology

• Treat co-burial as a potential indicator of social relationships rather than automatic evidence of close family ties.
• Use DNA sexing for juvenile remains to test assumptions about childhood practices and gender roles.
• Combine genetic kinship with artifact evidence (like pilgrim shells) to trace mobility and social networks within and beyond local communities.

# Bottom line